FOOTBALL: Veterans in the house

No real surprises today as veterans came under the guidance of Houston Nutt and the coaching staff after a summer of “voluntary” workouts. During the summer the only contact the players can have with football staff members is with the strength and conditioning staff.

There are a handful of players who did not return, none of which were surprises. Some were grades issues, some were simply not offered scholarships, which run on a yearly basis.

“I do not like to take away scholarships, but it lets them know it’s a privilege. Sometimes you don’t renew them to send a shock and let them know you don’t have to renew them,” Nutt said.

One player who returned is senior defensive end Antonio Turner. He sat out the spring with academic issues but has worked his way back into good standing. He has paid his own way and will start out on the scout team.

“We’ll see where it goes from there,” Nutt said.

Most players were on time, although seniors Jamarca Sanford and Michael Oher had not reported at the time Nutt met with media. They were attending the funeral of Sanford’s uncle.

A team meal is scheduled for 6:30 with a meeting to follow at 7:30. After breakfast in the morning players will have a meeting, then a walk-through inside. The first practice will begin at 5:30.

For additional coverage see tomorrow’s Daily Journal and djournal.com.

My general take is that if a kid can sign up for armed service when he leaves high school then a kid can answer questions about football.

Sometimes a kid might be a loose cannon, and maybe he’s off limits for a while. Sometimes there are other situations where a coach might want a player to be off-limits.

Often, however, a coach will make a player off limits, because it’s just the easy thing to do. Why not let Brent Schaeffer answer questions last August about why he wanted to play receiver? It was just easier for Ed to make him unavailable.

In short, I oppose a blanket policy that doesn’t allow access to probably 25 players. There may be a loose cannon in there. There are probably some pretty bright kids too.